Village and Town life in Norman England

• How were towns affected by fighting and rebellions

  • York's population was reduced by around 50% due to the harrying of the North
  • Exeter and Durham suffered from fighting
  • Lincoln saw 166 houses destroyed to make way for castles
• How did trading patterns change after the Norman Conquest

  • Some town dwellers were exposed to the avarice of the Normans through heavy taxation
  • However, the Normans realised the towns were a valuable source of wealth
  • Castles promoted urban growth, as the garrison needed resources from the community and it was a secure environment for trade - 21 towns were founded next to castles from 1066-1080
• How did England's exporting change

  • After 1071, England was relatively peaceful, allowing the economy to recover and flourish
  • Ports on the south coast (Southampton, Pevensey, Sandwich) benefited from the Norman orbit - they found the Flemish market to be ready to buy English wool
  • Ties with Scandinavia also cut, portraying how York never once regained its prominence
• How was multiculturalism seen in England after 1066?

  • Domesday records 96 Frenchmen in Southampton, living in an area known as French street, still known to this day
  • A Jewish community that probably came from Rouen was seen visible in London, who dealt in silver and exchanged foreign coins for English ones
• How were peasants affected by fighting?

  • Many were displaced, and their communities permanently destroyed
  • Domesday records values of rent in areas of fighting (Rent of Manors in York fell by 60% between 1066 and 1086, Sussex also fell by 40%)
  • Even in areas less seriously affected by fighting, the Normans demanded higher rent and increased obligations, making peasants's lives harder
• How were peasants life's in the towns/villages

  • Many in towns saw continuity with A-S, as in the South and Midlands, it was centred around a nucleated village
  • Nucleated Village contained: a manor house for the lord; A church, and 3 large common fields
  • Those in the North and East were isolated and lived in dispersed settlements - Peasants from Yorkshire and Durham were moved into planned nucleated villages
  • Work was precarious, as disease, fires, famine and bah harvests were present in 11 of the 34 years between 1066-1100
• How did the Forest laws affect village life

  • 20 Villages and 2000 people were destroyed in the making of the New Forest
  • Restrictions were placed on farming, grazing cattle and gathering wood in Royal Forests, despite hunting prohibited for the Kings
  • Lots of land had been used for agriculture, but was now replaced for hunting
  • Edward the Confessor and Harold had been keen huntsmen
• How did the Normans abolish slavery

  • During Edward the Confessor's reign, around 10% of the population were slaves - either from bondage or captured in war
  • By William's reign, as seen in Essex, slavery fell by 25% between 1066-1086
  • William abolished slavery for 2 reasons: A moral argument that came from the church and Bishop Lanfranc persistence to William
  • Also the benefit of moving slaves to peasant, meaning they were eligible to pay rent and taxation as they were part of the feudal system